June 30, 2009
I am a member of the Financial Planning Association and employee of an SEC-registered investment adviser. In this regard, I am opposed to the requirement in the proposed amendments to the custody rule that would subject investment advisers to a surprise audit by an accounting firm simply because the firm is authorized by a client to make automatic deduction of client fees from a discretionary account. This in no way gives my firm actual custody of assets. The Ponzi schemes uncovered by the SEC had nothing to do with fees deducted by investment advisers. This requirement would be unnecessary, costly and burdensome, particularly for small, independent investment advisers.